The Global Arms Trade Network 1950-2007

We study the evolution of the global arms trade network using a unique dataset on all international transfers of major conventional weapons over the period 1950-2007. First, we provide a careful description of the characteristics of global arms trade using tools from social network analysis. Second, we relate our …findings to political regimes by studying whether differences in polity scores affect the likelihood of arms trade by estimating an augmented gravity equation. Our findings from the network analysis are much in line with common views of the Cold War. We see a clear division between the Warsaw Pact and NATO, with the Soviet Union being more central to the former than the United States to the latter. We find that differences in polity has a significant, negative effect on the likelihood of arms trade between two countries. The relationship is remarkably robust throughout the sample period and does not hold for trade in any other good that we investigate. The result suggests that democracies are indeed more likely to trade arms with other democracies than with autocracies since the former are not perceived as potential adversaries. We view this finding as evidence in favour of the Democratic Peace Theory.Arms Trade; Networks; Democracy; Autocracy; NATO; The Warsaw Pact

Maintenance breeding of conservation cereal varieties

The experiments shows that within the heritage material, varieties are identified with unique quality traits, including taste, colour and backing quality, which are not found in high yielding modern varieties available for organic farming. The paper presents the second year result of field evaluation of 212 Scandinavian heritage varieties grown on two sites in Denmark in 2007

Analytical solution for heat conduction due to a moving Gaussian heat flux with piecewise constant parameters

We provide an analytical solution of the heat equation in the half-space subject to a moving Gaussian heat flux with piecewise constant parameters. The solution is of interest in powder bed fusion applications where these parameters can be used to control the conduction of heat due to a scanning beam of concentrated energy. The analytical solution is written in a dimensionless form as a sum of integrals over (dimensionless) time. For the numerical computation of these integrals we suggest a quadrature scheme that utilizes pre-calculated look-up tables for the required quadrature orders. Such a scheme is efficient because the required quadrature orders are strongly dependent on the parameters in the heat flux. The possibilities of using the obtained computational technique for the control and optimization of powder bed fusion processes are discussed

Autocracies and Development in a Global Economy: A Tale of Two Elites

Data on the growth performances of countries with similar comparative (dis)advantage and political institutions reveal a striking variation across world regions. While some former autocracies such as the East Asian growth miracles have done remarkably well, others such as the Latin American economies have grown at much lower rates. In this paper, we propose a political economy explanation of these diverging paths of development by addressing the preferences of the country's political elite. We build a theoretical framework where factors of production owned by the political elites differ across countries. In each country, the incumbent autocrat will cater to the preferences of the elites when setting trade policy and the property rights regime. We show how stronger property rights may lead to capital accumulation and labor reallocation to the manufacturing sector. This, in turn, can lead to a shift in the comparative advantage, a decision to open up to trade and an inflow of more productive foreign capital. Consistent with a set of stylised facts on East Asia and Latin America, we argue that strong property rights are crucial for success upon globalization.Autocracy; Growth; Political Elites; Landowners; Capitalists; Growth Miracles; Trade; Comparative Advantage; Capital Mobility; Property Rights

Autocracies and Development in a Global Economy: A Tale of Two Elites

Data on the growth performances of countries with similar comparative (dis)advantage and political institutions reveal a striking variation across world regions. While some former autocracies such as the East Asian growth miracles have done remarkably well, others such as the Latin American economies have grown at much lower rates. In this paper, we propose a political economy explanation of these diverging paths of development by addressing the preferences of the country’s political elite. We build a theoretical framework where factors of production owned by the political elites differ across countries. In each country, the incumbent autocrat will cater to the preferences of the elites when setting trade policy and the property rights regime. We show how stronger property rights may lead to capital accumulation and labor reallocation to the manufacturing sector. This, in turn, can lead to a shift in the comparative advantage, a decision to open up to trade and an inflow of more productive foreign capital. Consistent with a set of stylised facts on East Asia and Latin America, we argue that strong property rights are crucial for success upon globalization.Autocracy, Growth, Political Elites, Landowners, Capitalists, Growth Miracles, Trade, Comparative Advantage, Capital Mobility, Property Rights

Autocracies and Development in a Global Economy: A Tale of Two Elites

Data on the growth performances of countries with similar comparative (dis)advantage and political institutions reveal a striking variation across world regions. While some former autoc- racies such as the East Asian growth miracles have done remarkably well; others such as the Latin American economies have grown at much lower rates. In this paper; we propose a political economy explanation of these diverging paths of development by addressing the preferences of the country?s political elite. We build a theoretical framework where factors of production owned by the political elites di¤er across countries. In each country; the incumbent autocrat will cater to the preferences of the elites when setting trade policy and the property rights regime. We show how stronger property rights may lead to capital accumulation and labor reallocation to the manufacturing sector. This; in turn; can lead to a shift in the comparative advantage; a decision to open up to trade and an in?ow of more productive foreign capital. Consistent with a set of stylised facts on East Asia and Latin America; we argue that strong property rights are crucial for success upon globalization.Autocracy; Growth; Political Elites; Landowners; Capitalists; Growth Miracles; Trade; Comparative Advantage; Capital Mobility; Property Rights

Place logic rather than project logic: landscape observatories as regional coordinators of large scale projects and compensation measures

This essay will focus on experiences from previous research projects and aster courses with the aim of highlighting some core issues and problems regarding large scale infrastructure projects, landscape assessment and compensation measures, especially concerning cultural values in the agricultural landscapes of Scania, the southernmost part of Sweden. Problems, but also possibilities, related to evaluation, mitigation and compensation are discussed. Landscape Observatories as established under the European Landscape Convention are introduced as a possibility for trans-organizational learning around landscape matters in a broad sense. It is concluded that regional landscape observatories could function as hubs for more efficient management of large-scale landscape interventions and contextually relevant mitigation and compensation measures. Incremental changes in the present legislation and administration, which seems to be the prevalent strategy, might not be sufficient in order to safeguard our cultural heritage or be in line with the objectives of international agreement

Everyday elites, citizens, or extremists? Assessing the use and users of non-election political hashtags

As research has indicated, what are sometimes described as traditional forms of political-parliamentary participation are dwindling in most Western democracies, and the Internet has often been pointed to as harboring the means to hinder these developments. While empirical studies on these matters have at best provided mixed results, social media services, like Twitter, have yet again fanned the flames of the most enthusiastic debaters. This paper moves beyond the often-studied context of parliamentary elections and instead offers a structural study of everyday political discussions on Twitter. Specifically, tweets from political contexts in Sweden and Norway are collected and analyzed with a specific focus on the top users and their activities. Results indicate that while thematic Twitter discussions can indeed serve as a potential channel for citizens, the influence of established as well as political extremist actors is also clearly discerned. As research has indicated, what are sometimes described as traditional forms of political-parliamentary participation are dwindling in most Western democracies, and the Internet has often been pointed to as harboring the means to hinder these developments. While empirical studies on these matters have at best provided mixed results, social media services, like Twitter, have yet again fanned the flames of the most enthusiastic debaters. This paper moves beyond the often-studied context of parliamentary elections and instead offers a structural study of everyday political discussions on Twitter. Specifically, tweets from political contexts in Sweden and Norway are collected and analyzed with a specific focus on the top users and their activities. Results indicate that while thematic Twitter discussions can indeed serve as a potential channel for citizens, the influence of established as well as political extremist actors is also clearly discerned.

INTERACTIVE TO ME – INTERACTIVE TO YOU?

Previous research has indicated that although online interactive features are not used by the visitors of different web sites, such features can be appreciated by the same visitors. This paper examines the use and appreciation of interactive features by visitors on Swedish newspaper web sites. By means of an online survey (1343 respondents) focusing on different traits and habits of the online news media audience, the study presents a typology of newspaper web site visitor personas, characterized by the different ways they use and appreciate interactive features in the online news media context. Although certain personas tend to make extensive use of the features studied, the overall results of the survey points towards rather low levels of both use and appreciation. As such, newspaper web site visitors might be characterized as “slow learners”, taking their time to adapt to the interactive capabilities offered by the online news media